


A Scarred Man-Soul Mark Edition

by Tonks32



Series: A Scarred Man [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dark Past, Drama, Drama & Romance, Drug Withdrawal, Emotional Baggage, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Light Dom/sub, Nightmares, Romance, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Smut, Tenderness, soul mark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 02:55:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonks32/pseuds/Tonks32
Summary: Aiden Trevelyan was no noble. He was a thief, sarcastic, crude, and a man whose life has been spent in the darkness. With the mark, he's thrust into the world of the light and is shown that maybe he can be more than his past. Soul Mark AU with this Inquisitor. Won't be a whole game retelling. This idea popped in my head and well I had to write it as there isn't enough Cassandra/M! Inquisitor stuff out there!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Again this isn't going to be a rehash of the game. I will reference events that happened in a scarred man but wanted to do the soul mark au and see how it goes.

   It appeared at his weakest moment. When he was set his determination to end his life. To finally escape his miserable existence. After year upon years of abuse, they finally broke him. They found a way to fully take away his control. Fighting was all he could do to protest this life his bastard father sold him into. And thanks to a drug, they stripped him of his inhabitation.  It made the blood in his veins burn and his body hard and desperate in ways that sickened him.

   After nearly a week trapped in a constant drug-induced haze, Aiden Trevelyan made the choice to take back his control and go out on his own terms.

   He was wrapping the links of the chains they didn’t bother to use tonight to secure him in place when he felt a sharp, scorching pain above his heart. Almost as if someone was putting a flame to his skin.

   Looking down, Aiden’s chest tightened.

   Branded in an elegant script was two letters _Ca._ He didn’t recognize it but knew that they belonged to a person that his soul and heart were bound to.

 Thinking it was his mind’s last-ditch effort to sway him from death, Aiden blinked. The mark still remained. A soul mark was something a person was born with. It was rare for a person not to have one. He figured that his elvhen half suppressed what he figured was solely a human thing. Or that he wasn’t meant to live long enough to find a mate. Either way, the lack of a soul mark was one of the reason’s Lady Trevelyan demanded his father get rid of him. The man’s half elvhen bastard. Aiden thought that meant to kill him, not sell him into slavery.

   Letting go of the chain, he traced the letters with the pads of his fingers. CA wasn’t a name. Maybe it was initials. Aiden didn’t have a vast knowledge of how these marks were supposed to work. And it mattered little in the end. He doubted whoever this person was, soulmate or not could ever look upon him with anything but disdain and disgust. Since the tender age of six, he’d been used for the pleasure of others.

   No more!

   Aiden took hold of the chain again and continued to wrap it around his neck, only to stop before he could do anything more. He felt a warmth on his cheek almost as if someone brushed their fingers over the side of his face. There was a tenderness in the sensation. The two letters now ingrained into his flesh began to warm. A blanket of comfort twisted around and held him tightly.

   He felt safe for the first time in nearly a decade. And, dare, say loved?

   Maybe it was his imagination. Maybe it was the presence of the Maker helping calm him as farfetched as the might be. Maye it was his soulmate reaching out to him through space and time telling him to stop. To find the strength to hold on. Find the will to endure his fate so they could find him.

   The last of his thoughts had Aiden untangling the chains and letting it drop onto the cobblestone. Somehow, he knew that if he did end his life it would cause his soulmate unimaginable pain. Even after his fair share of it, Aiden didn’t want that person to hurt.

   “Sleep now.” A soothing voice whispered in his ears.

   Suddenly tired, Aiden dragged his aching body to the pallet in the far corner of his cell. He dropped off into the fade still wrapped in comfort.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

   Two weeks later, Aden found himself cursing the soul mark and whomever it belonged to. His enslavers found the brand it brought a sickening gleam to one of the men’s eyes.

   “Well, well. Look at that.”

   Aiden tried to jerk away, but the chains suspending his arms above his head kept him from going too far. He turned his head, unable to watch his capturer run his fingers over the two letters.

   “You got yourself a soul mark.” The man chuckled forcing Aiden to look at him by taking him by the chin. “Isn’t that something.”

   Aiden remained silent.

   He stroked his thumb, like a lover would, across the scar running along Aiden’s jaw. One of many that branded his face and only a small portion to the large collection all over his body. “Do you honestly think there is a person out there for you?”

   Gaze flickering to the name printed on the man’s neck, Aiden’s mouth twitched. “IF there is someone for a monster like you, then why not me?”

   Laughing, he released Aiden. “Even if there is, you think that they can stand the sight of you? Or look at all of these scars and be able to touch you? Do you think once they know about your life they could stomach being with you?”

   Aiden averted his gaze, doubts filling his mind.

   The nameless man drew an iron rod poker from the fire. The tip was glowing orange. “You are and will always be a slave.” He pressed the bot poker to the C branding Aiden’s skin. “I’ll erase this mark and with it any hope you may have found that you’ll have a life away from the darkness.”

   “ _Don’t listen to him, my love”_ The same soothing voice he heard the night the letter appeared filled Aiden’s head. _“I swear on the Maker and his bride that I will find you.”_

   Biting his lip so hard he tasted blood, Aiden found what solace he could in those comforting words. In a world in the light.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

   Over the next twelve years, seven more letters appeared. Each time they were burned off and now the name he couldn’t pronounce laid under a patch of disfigured skin. He memorized the letters, recalling them over and over so not to forgetting. Retreating to them in his darkest moments. There had been nine of them. He never spoke them aloud. Far too afraid they would be tainted if he did. Even after Aiden escaped his master, the man he was sold to when his body became to mangled to serve the like in Orlais., he didn’t feel safe enough to try to learn the name. And he wouldn’t while his former master lived.

    After three years of his escape, Aiden still lived in a constant state of fear and crippling anxiety. His only way to even cope was flooding his system with drugs and a potion he learned from a traveling man outside of Ferelden.

    But soon his master would be dead.

   Aiden found Bryn while in Denerim and spent weeks following the man through the Frostbacks mountains to a town called Haven for this Conclave so many spoke of. Shadowing Bryn’s movements, Aiden easily blinded in once inside the temple. After all, he’d perfected the art since his escape. He laid in waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Soon, he would be free from his master’s reach. Soon, he could start life anew.

   What Aiden didn’t know was that the life he thought of was different from the one he was about to be thrust into.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

   Weary, Cassandra forced herself to straighten before bursting through the door, finally facing their mysterious guest. Leliana filed to the right while the Seeker marched straight for the shackled man.  She couldn’t see his face. His head was bowed, his loose jet-black hair shielded his features.

   The mark on his hand crackled spurring her into action. They needed to figure out who this man was and work on closing the breach as quickly as possible. “Tell me why I should kill you.”

   Silence.

   Seething, Cassandra circled him trying to gage on the man. He was lanky with a long torso and skinny. Almost sickly so. He didn’t look much like a threat. Yet, she could sense something surrounding him. Something dark, dangerous even. “The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone that attended is dead.” She forced her the emotions clogging her throat back down. Later, Cassandra would grieve. “Except for you. Why.”

   Again, nothing.

    Cassandra glanced at Leliana, but the Spymaster continued to stand in the corner watching them like a hawk. Trying something different, Cassandra grabbed the man’s wrist. “Explain this.”

   Her touched roused something in Aiden from his mindless trance he forced himself into. Stomach churning, he yanked himself free from her grasp. “I can’t.”

   “What do you mean, you can’t?”

   “Simple.” He tilted his face towards her. He knew in the way she carried herself the woman was a warrior before he saw the glint coming from the hilt of her sword. “I can’t explain something I don’t know.”

   Snarling, Cassandra took Aiden by the throat, forcing his gaze to hers. For a moment the world and all its problems disappeared. She was transfixed by eyes so blue they glowed. In them, Cassandra could see the danger she sensed but found a sense of familiarity. She shook her head clear. “You’re lying.”

   Aiden didn’t struggle knowing that it would only cause more trouble. Her brown eyes were darkened with unfathomed fury and hatred. Both of which were directed at him. “I don’t know what this thing on my hand is or what the fuck is going on!”

   releasing him, stalking away to give Leliana a chance to extract information. Her forearm was burning. Subconsciously Cassandra rubbed the spot through her padded tunic. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was her soul mark pulsing. She fought back to conceal her gasp of surprise. She’d long forgotten about the blasted thing, having given up hope of finding the man the name belonged to.

   Why was it acting up now? There was a hole in the sky that was literally raining down demons on them. Things were only getting worse by the minute. Still, Cassandra found herself distracted by the ache and its meaning. She’d heard others, those that found their soulmate, that their mark would act up almost painfully when their other half was close by and have yet met. The possibility of what the burning on her arm meant had Cassandra whirling around.

   “What is your name?” Cassandra harshly demanded, abruptly cutting Leliana off. “I said what is your name?”

   Something about the steeling in her voice had Aiden smiling. “Only if you give me yours first, Lass.”

   “You joke when the Divine is dead and the sky is tearing itself apart?” Cassandra fisted her hand on the hilt of her sword.

   Though the news was disturbing, Aiden shrugged. “I’ve been told that I’m a soulless bastard.”

   Cassandra gritted her teeth. She wanted to run the man through and would have if they didn’t need that damn mark on his hand. “Tell me who you are and what you were doing at the Conclave.”

   “I didn’t come to kill the Divine,” Aiden spat.

   “That doesn’t answer my question.”

   “Just tell me what you want from me!” Aiden angrily demanded. “I don’t know what this thing on my hand is or the explosion you’re going on about or whatever this breach is. Get me out of these damn cuffs!”

   “I will do no such thing.” Drawing her sword, Cassandra charged forwards, leveling the tip at his heavily scarred throat. “Now, I’ll ask again. Who are you and why were you at the Conclave?”

   Aiden couldn’t help but find the fire in her alluring. Challenging her, he lifted her chin to expose his neck further from under his beard. “Go ahead and kill me, Lass. No one will weep for me.”

   “Cassandra, don’t!” Leliana grabbed the Seeker’s arm and forced her to ease the sword backward. “We need him.”

   Huffing, Cassandra reluctantly sheathed her weapon. “Go to the forward camp, Leliana.”

   The Spymaster hesitated.

  “Go,” Cassandra repeated. “I’ll bring the prisoner.”

   That word grated against Aiden's skin almost as deeply as slave or slut. “Trevelyan.”

   Cassandra’s gaze shot to his. “What?”

   Aiden pushed to his feet, finding that he had a good three if not four inches on her. If she didn’t greatly out muscle him, he would’ve given rushing her a shot to get free. “My name,” He explained not sure exactly why he only was willing to give his surname freely. “It’s Trevelyan.”

   The air nearly rushed out of her lungs in relief. So, the Maker wasn’t as cruel as she feared. But then, why did her soul mark burn? “You shall call me Seeker.”

   He bowed his head ever so slightly. “As you wish. Seeker.”

   Her title rolling off his tongue in his accent made something crawl up Cassandra’s sine. She pushed it aside. She unshackled his metal restraints but left the leather bindings in place. “Follow me.”

   “Not like I have much of a choice.”

   Cassandra let out a disgruntled noise. “Let’s go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jumping straight to Redcliff

   The future? How was this even possible?

   Aiden rubbed his temple feeling a headache starting to form. Somehow, Alexius’s magic sent them a year forward and judging by the vast amounts of Red Lyrium growing everywhere, that year hadn’t been kind.

   “Can we fix this?” Aiden demanded from Dorian.

   Dorian’s brow furrowed. “Perhaps, if I can figure out the spell Alexius used then maybe I can reverse it. Return us to our time.”

   “I’d be more inclined to believe you if you said any of that with an ounce of confidence.”

   “It seems my card face needs some work,” Dorian quipped leading the Herald across the grated bridge. “Would explain why I’m so terrible at Wicked Grace. Last time I played, I lost everything by my small cloth.”

   “Shh.” Aiden shot his arm out to still the mage and stop his ramblings. He titled his head to the left, straining to hear the faint voice echoing against the concrete. “I hear something. It sounds like they’re… It’s Cassandra.”

   Dorian watched the rogue spur forward. “Be careful, damn it!”

   Ignoring the warning, Aiden skirted around the corner, his bow at the ready. He dropped it after finding the room clear. The Red Lyrium jetting out from the wall casting an eerie glow. “Cassandra.” Aiden followed the sound of praying to the last cell. Relief washed through him finding the Seeker kneeling in the middle of the confined space only to be replaced by dreed a moment later. She was infected. Aiden could feel the power of the Lyrium radiating from her. “Maker, Cassandra.”

   The Seeker’s gaze shot up. “Could it be?” Her voice shook with emotions Aiden couldn’t place. “Has Andraste given us another chance?”

   Aiden’s hands trembled as he fought to unlock the door with his pick. “Not sure if Andraste had much to do with it,” He softly argued. They had to make this right. If solely for the reason to return the fire he came to admire to Cassandra. He cursed and willed himself to work faster. Maker, this was his fault. He hadn’t been there to help. To use his mark to stop this nightmare from happening. “I’m so sorry, Cassandra.”

   “No.” Using the bars of the cell, Cassandra pulled herself onto her shaky limbs. “It is I who am sorry. I failed you, Aiden.”

   He jerked at the sound of his first name flowing from her lips in her Nevarran accent. Seeing the tears slid down her gaunt cheek tore at Aiden’s heart as he opened the door. “You haven’t failed.”

   “I watched him obliterate you.” Cassandra took a hesitating step forward. “He killed you.”

   “Actually, no,” Aiden corrected fighting the urge to touch her. “I think that was his intentions. Instead of killing us, he sent us into the future.”

   She placed her hand on his chest feeling him jerk momentarily under her palm before he relaxed. Cassandra concentrated on the steady beat of his heart. “You’re alive.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and turned her face into his scarred throat. The tears were flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. “Oh, Aiden. Why didn’t you tell me? Why? I’ve waited for so long.”

   Confused that she knew his first name, Aiden cradled her head against his shoulder. The world was literally going to shit and all he could find himself to care about as the fell of her in his arms. At least if he was going to die, he could recall this exact moment before he met his end. “What do you mean?”

   Drawing away, Cassandra cupped his cheek and stroked her thumb across one of the rigid scars branding his face. Her shattered soul healed instantly at the mere sight of him. A sad smile crossed her tired face. “And now you’ve returned when it’s too late.”

   “But we can fix this. We can go back and make it like this never happened.”

0o0o0o0o0o 0o0000000000o0o0o0o0

   “You don’t have an hour,” Leliana informed.

   To reinforce her point, a tremor shook the ground nearly causing Aiden to lose his balance. Something big was coming their way and fast. Something much bigger than a Pride Demon. Much, much bigger.

   “The Elder one,” Bull whispered his grip bone white on his weapon. “He’s coming.”

   “You must open the rift now,” Cassandra shouted to be heard over the rumbling. She drew out her sword, “We will protect you until you make it through.”

   “No!” The thought of them dying for him was unacceptable. But Cassandra, losing her had him roaring in rage. They would not take her from him. He couldn’t lose her. She was the only thing in this blasted world that reminded him he was more than the monster he was conditioned to believe. “You can’t!”

   “Look at us, Herald.” Leliana gestured to ghoulish face. “We are already dead. The only way for us to live is if this day never comes.”

   “You won’t die for me.” Aiden jerked the Seeker around to face him. The red lyrium swirling in her brown eyes served as truth to the Spymaster’s words. They had been exposed too long. “You can’t. I can’t…”

   Cassandra touched a hand to his bearded cheek, sweeping her fingers down the curve of his jaw. Her resolve never wavered even when his broke. “Maker protect you.”

   Tears blurred his vision for the first time in recent memory. He had so much to say, but they had so little time. The only thing he could do to fix it was turn back the clock. “Cassandra.”

   The warrior seized the rogue by the hair and pulled his lips to hers. She wasted no time, there wasn’t any to spare, to plunge her tongue into his mouth to fully taste him. His rough hands cupped her face as his lips became bruising. Cassandra tasted despair. The desperation. She didn’t mind it. In fact, she welcomed it because Aiden wasn’t some Chantry priest. He was a man hardened by the cruelness of the world. She accepted that of him. Yearned for him regardless. Cassandra felt sadden that the other version of her wouldn’t have experienced this moment of bliss. She had an entire year to think about what she felt for Aiden Trevelyan and all the things she wished she had done while he was alive.

   “Go.” She whispered against his lips.

   The door flew off its hinges jarring the pair apart. Aiden tried to surge forward, but Dorian yanked him back warning that if they failed, they all died. All Aiden could do was watch Cassandra meet the horde of demons ready to give her life for his.

   “She’s doing this for you!” Dorian held Aiden in place the best he could without breaking his concertation.

   That didn’t make watching the Pride demon snatch the Seeker up like a doll any easier to swallow. He cried out the moment he saw the life leave her body. Aiden didn’t even see her body hit the floor before Dorian shoved him into the rift.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aiden's Bio and back story are at the end of the chapter. At this point, Cassandra and Aiden have come to an agreement of her helping him learn to read and write while she tries to get him to eat as being a slave he had grown accustomed not to.

   “Trevelyan.”

   The sultry sound of Cassandra’s voice broke Aiden of his concentration on the nothingness before him. A trick he used in those earlier years of his training until those bastards pumped his body full of drugs. After that, it made it impossible to retreat into his mind. Blinking, Aiden found it difficult to breathe upon remembering how small the cell he was in was. He eagerly looked over his shoulder in hopes the sight of the Seeker would calm him. “Cassandra.” Since his hands where cuffed through the bars, Aiden had to untangle himself to stand. He frowned. He didn’t like how pale she looked. Or the fact it appeared she’d been crying. “What’s wrong?”

   “What’s wrong?” Cassandra echoed the question stalking across the room. She gripped the bars to remain upright when her knees started knocking together. “What’s wrong is you’re chained down here being treated like a common criminal for something you didn’t so. Because of me.”

   Aiden shrugged. “I’ve been in worst places and situations, believe me.”

   “That’s beside the point.”

   “Look, you did exactly what I would’ve done. You just beat me to it,” He softly explained though it did very little to ease the guilt etched into the lines of her face. “Difference is, I would’ve killed him.”

   That was something Cassandra had no doubt of. She saw the same crazed look in his eyes that he wore when he beat that slave to death in the Hinterlands. “You should be taking my punishment.”

   “Ten lashes isn’t so bad.”

   “Again, besides the point.”

   He shifted his hands higher but stopped before they fully touched. “They would’ve paraded you around half naked and strung you up in the main square. You’re a Seeker of truth and famed right hand of the Divine. You’re a good person and that first lash would’ve taken it all away. I couldn’t stand back and do nothing.” His glowing gaze broke into her dark one. “I couldn’t watch.”

   Her voice was thick with emotions. “How do you think I can deal with the guilt that you’re going to go through that on my behalf.”

   “Don’t you see, Cassandra? I-I…” His throat suddenly became tight making it incredibly difficult to speak. “I care about you. The very first and so far, the only person I’ve ever cared about in my miserable life. You don’t take my shit and you give it as good as you get. You make me feel like more than a slave.”

   “You’re so much more than that. You’ve proven what a good man you are in these last few months.”

   “That’s because of you,” Aiden argued.

   “Trevelyan.” She dropped her hands to touch his only to pull away when he jerked at the contact. “Sorry.”

   “Don’t be,” He pleaded. “It’s a conditioned response. I have had many kind touches in my life.”

   The knowledge put even more weight on her already heavy heart. “Not any? Not even after you escaped?”

   He watched her fingers start to drift again and it took all his willpower not to flinch. “The first true kind touch I ever experienced was that day on the river bank when you helped wash the blood from my hair.”

   _Maker_. Years upon years of not one gentle touch. How could a person survive? Cassandra drew off her gloves and touched his hands once again. She couldn’t fathom what that must’ve been like. And she suddenly became overwhelmed with even more guilt over every friendly pat, hug, and simple handshake over the past few months.

   Aide became enamored by watching her slender finger stroke along one of the jagged scars running down his palm and towards his wrist. So gentle. Even loving? That would change. Her whole perspective of him would once he walked out there exposed for the world to see. She would see the true extent of his scars and be repulsed. Then the questions would come. This time, Aiden didn’t think he could refuse to answer them. So, for now, Aiden would soak up this opportunity and savor her touch.

   He shifted his hand allowing her soft caress to move up her far arm. “Cassandra.”

   She didn’t say anything as she continued to move her hands along his arms. He responded warmly to her touch. Instead of flinching and drawing away as was his norm, Aiden swayed, leaning against the bars. His muscles began to relax, the tension she saw on his face the moment she walked into the room was easing from his features. “I wish I could talk you out of this,” Cassandra whispered cupping his bearded cheek. Her breath caught in her throat when he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh, treasuring the warmth of her touch as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

   “Not going to happen.” He nearly smiled at her disgruntled noise. Aiden rested his brow against the cool metal of the cell door and in response, Cassandra shifted closer until he felt her breath fanning across his cheek. All the pain he was about to endure seemed almost worth it to have her touch him like this. “You’ll understand before long why I’m doing this. Why, when I say I’ve had worse, I have.”

   She stroked her thumb over the scar streaking across the corner of his mouth. “They’ll be here soon.”

   “You should go,” He sadly insisted though he rather bask in her touch a little longer. Because he knew that any change to do so after would be slim to none, Aiden slanted her mouth over hers. He cursed the bars between them as it prevented him from deepening the kiss like he longed to. And judging by the hands buried in his hair, Aiden concluded she wanted to as well. With s slight nip at her bottom lips, Aiden very very reluctantly drew away. “Go.”

   Dazed, Cassandra fought to clear her head in order to think straight. She reached into the pouch at her hip and pulled out a pinch or herbs. She wanted to give him a potion, but the guards had searched her for that. “It’s won’t help, but it’s better than nothing.”

   “What is it?”

   “Dawn Lotus.” Cassandra held it up to his lips and nearly moaned when he nibbled at her fingertips to take in the herb. She gave him two more pinches and would have given more if she hadn’t heard the clanking of plate armor. “Trevelyan…”

   He gave her a small smile. “Go, Cassandra.”

   There was no chance to argue. The Templar guards were here to take him away.

   Cassandra stood near the gallows where a whipping post was set up with her two companions trying to talk to the Knight Captain once again. “Do you honestly think what you’re doing is right?”

   Isiah set his jaw looking at the gathered crowd. He committed an assault on a high-ranking Templar, Seeker.”

   “Who was trying to rape a defenseless woman in front of her newborn,” Cassandra angrily argued. “Because he suspected her of being a mage. I shudder to think exactly how he treated his charges in the circle.”

   “Templar Larson will have a trail and be punished accordingly. Just as this Herald of yours.” Isiah gripped the hilt of the sword on his belt. “We are in the middle of civil unrest. Letting this go will only allow people to think they can behave in such manner against the order.”

   Before Cassandra could press on further, a door to her right opened and saw Aiden’s glowing gaze through the shadows. She sucked in a sharp breath the moment he stepped outside named from the waist up.

   _Dear Maker in heaven._

   There were so many scars. No matter how hard she tried, Cassandra couldn’t stop her gaze from roaming over the exposed flesh. It seemed like there wasn’t a patch that was free of branding marks.

   Isiah motioned the two Templars to bring the Herald forward. “Do you wish to say anything before we proceeded?”

   Aiden held the man’s gaze saying nothing. What was there to anyways?

   “So be it.” Isiah stepped around the shackled man to address the crow. “For the crime of assault against a member of the Templar Order, I sentence you, Aiden Trevelyan, to ten lashes.”

   Hearing the rogue’s first name had Cassandra’s gaze snapping right back to Aiden’s. The mark on her arm began to hum. _By the light!_ Could it truly be? She resisted to rub the spot on the mark where that name was etched into her skin. Cassandra didn’t have time to ponder it further as they were now straining Aiden’s arms upward on the whipping post.

   Aiden had been right. One look at the mangled flesh of the man’s back and she understood this was far from Aiden’s first time at the mercy of the whip. It didn’t make the guilt any easier to stomach that he was taking her place.

   Aiden glared at the Templar to his right. “Get on with it,” He grumbled loud enough for the crowd to hear wanting them to see that a person can be defiant even when in his position.

   The nameless man growled and snatch the whip from the other Templar assigned to see out his punishment.

   No matter how much he wanted to, Aiden didn’t look in search of Cassandra. Instead, he recalled the feel of her lips against his and her smile as the first blow of the whip streaked across his back.

0o0o0o0o0o0

   The short time frame given by the Knight Captain left Cassandra very little time to clean Aiden’s filleted skin and ground the correct healing hers into a suitable past to use to seal the wounds. Bull and Varric were working on their transportation and potions to help ease Aiden’s pain during the journey back to Haven.

   Why hadn’t they brought Dorian? Cassandra asked herself the question for the tenth time as she gingerly applied the past over the Herald’s wounds. She should know by now there wasn’t anything simple about their excruciations. Every time they stepped away from Haven’s gates, trouble always found them. Even a simple supply trip to Val Royeaux.

   Cassandra had nearly finished coating Aiden’s back when the rogue jerked awake with a strangle cry caught in his throat. The sound wasn’t on of pain though she was sure he was in an immense deal of it, but one of terror. A reminder of the night on the cliff on the storm coast when his mind had been gripped by a nightmarish memory. She dropped her healing paste and dashed to the front of the table.”

   “Trevelyan, open your eyes. It’s okay.” Cassandra stroked her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. When that didn’t work, she knelt to nuzzle his cheek hoping to coax him from the dream his mind was stuck in. “Aiden.” The name, foreign, felt right falling from her lips. She tried to ignore the way that her soul mark felt. After all, she had quickly searched and found no such mark on the man’s skin. “You’re safe. Open your eyes.”

   His heavy lids fluttered open, his glowing blue eyes clouded and unfocused. “Wh-What? Please,” He softly begged. “Don’t. No more.”

   “It’s over, Aiden.”

   The sound of his name was enough to pull him back to the present. He blinked and a dreamy smile crossed his face. “Don’t tell me I’ve completely ruined my manly demeanor by fainting.”

    “I thought men don’t faint,” She shot back on a soft chuckle. “No fear, Herald. You waited until Bull carted you out of eyesight before you passed out.”

   “Good.” Aiden drew in a deep breath focused on her lavender scent through the heavy pungent of the healing paste. It was able to ease any lingering effects left in the wake of his nightmare. “Are you okay?”

   “Am I okay?” Cassandra asked for the second time that day.

   “The last thing I remember is you throwing yourself between me and the Templar.”

   Her voice grew hot with anger. “It was only supposed to be ten lashes. If I hadn’t put a stop to it, he would have beat you within an inch of your life.”

   HE pressed into the fingers dragging across his scalp. “It’s because I didn’t cry out. The whole reason for a public flogging is to put on a show. Fear is garnered other ways.”

   A way Cassandra knew that Aiden was well versed in. “I have to finish coating your back before dressing it. I know you must be in pain, but I need to ensure minimal bleed will occur once you move.”

   Aiden missed her touch the moment she moved away to finish her task. “The pain isn’t too bad.”

   “Somehow I believe you.”

   “That’s why I took the punishment,” He whispered watching the flame of a nearby candle to distract him for the discomfort of the paste hitting torn flesh. He was sure that still being in shock helped bear the pain. “I know you have questions.”

   “About a hundred of them,” Cassandra replied carefully laying a swash of cloth to cover his back. “But they can wait. The Knight Captain wants us gone as soon as possible. Varric is out getting medicine while Bull is securing our passage on a boat.”

   Aiden groaned in protest.

   “You’re in no condition to ride.”

   The door to the room swung open and Bull ducked under the frame when he entered. “The Templars are growing restless. Best we go now. Varric is waiting by the boat.”

   Cassandra pulled Aiden’s tunic from his pile of belongings. It would be ruined the moment Aiden moved and broke open his wounds, but Cassandra wanted to spare Aiden the gawking on the way to the harbor. “Put our arms around my neck so I can sit you up.”

   Aiden managed to comply the best he could. The first movement had a fiery pain shooting across his raw back. He buried his face in her throat, biting his lip to keep himself from crying out. With soothing words, Cassandra’s lips brushed against his ear as she helped him sit up. Aiden’s hands grasped her hips. “I need… A moment.”

   “I got you.”

   Her fingers were in his hair again, her nails lightly scraping across the nape of his neck. For a moment, the throbbing pain was replaced by a burst of unfathomed lust. He savored her touch unsure if it would be one of the last from her. Once things settled, Aiden was sure that she wouldn’t be able to stomach him any longer.

   It took some effort, but Cassandra finally slipped the tunic over Aiden’s head. She drew back, holding onto his shoulders to keep him from tumbling off the table. “Bull.”

   The Qunari moved quickly, sliding his massive arm around the human’s waist. “C’mon Boss.”

   Cassandra gathered the rest of Aiden’s things and followed.

   Aiden was completely drenched in a new coat of sweat and barely clinging to consciousness by the time the boat came into view. The smell of his own blood made his stomach churn. “Move faster,” He urged Bull in a not so friendly tome. “I rather not pass out again.”  


   Cassandra led them to the first available room below deck and instructed the male warrior to lay Aiden face down on the cot. Varric was close behind with a satchel full of herbs, potions, and bandages. “See if you can find some towels and water.” Cassandra opened the port window and lit all the lanterns and candles to illuminate the room the best she could. It was the only comfort she could give Aiden knowing he detested dark cramp places. “I’m going to rip your shirt.”

   Aiden’s head lolled to the side a smile on his face. “Knew you’d be a hellcat in bed.”

   The corner of her mouth twitched. “This is me being tamed. Wait until you see me in full action, Trevelyan.” She tore the fabric in two and used its remains to soak up the blood that seeped through the bandages. “Bull, get me a potion.”

   Bull fished out a healing draft from the satchel. Uncorking it with his teeth, Bull slipped a hand under Aiden’s head and gently lifted. “Bottom’s up.”

   Aiden down the liquid in two gulps. It didn’t hold a candle to his homemade brew. He wondered if he could get Bull to sneak him one from his bag without Cassandra knowing. Then what did it matter? Once he told her of his past, of his vice, she would be disgusted enough that it wouldn’t matter about his substance abuse.

   “With this number of sailors on board, there’s bound to be some strong alcohol about.” Bull left to find some.

   Cassandra pressed on a particularly sore spot that had Aiden crying out. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She chanted over and over again until he settled down.

   Feeling something warm hit his cheek, Aiden looked up out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t waste your tears on me, Lass. I’m not worth them.”

   “Yes, you are.” Cassandra bent to brush her lips across his temple. “And so much more. Especially to me.”

   He frowned. “You won’t feel that way for long.”

   “Nothing you tell me will sway my feelings towards you.”

   His heart swelled at her admission only to be quickly squashed by the reality of the situation. “I doubt that.”

   “Then you’ll have to trust me.”

   Bull returned first with a fresh bottle of Antivan whiskey. “We’ve casted off.”

   “Good.” Cassandra wanted to put as much distance they could between that wretched city and them as quickly as possible. “See if you can find another bottle. We’re going to need to clean the wounds again before we give him another healing draft.”

   A strong aroma of whiskey hitting nose had Aiden arching a brow.

   “Drink.”

   “I don’t feel much like going for a swim.”

   “I’ll let it slide this time as long as you don’t go boxing. Drink, Trevelyan,” She urged again. “I know that healing potion did nothing for the pain.”

   Left with no choice, Aiden lifted his head to allow Cassandra to pour the whiskey down his throat. It took about half the bottle before a nice buzz fell over his mind. He forced himself to stop before he drank the whole damn bottle. Oblivion triggered by alcohol always led to horrific dreams.

   Once the two males had returned and left them alone, Cassandra redressed Aiden’s back and cleaned up the blood from her hands before sitting on the floor, wedging herself between the bod and the bedside table. She began to stroke her fingers over the back of his hand, saying nothing as she was sure sleep would claim him soon enough.

   Aiden couldn’t slumber. Instead, he watched her fingers move across his skin, tracing lines of hardened cartilage. Like in the cell, her touch was warm and comforting. “I was six,” The information fell from his lips loosened by drink and pain.

   The sound of his voice jolted Cassandra out of her stupor. She didn’t say anything, simply continued to touch him while waiting for him to speak again.

   “I was six when my father sold me to a slaver.”

   Her brow furrowed. “Why in Thedas would he do that?”

   “Didn’t have the stomach to kill me himself and couldn’t risk the world discovering I was, in fact, his half elvhen bastard.” She didn’t recoil at the information like he thought she would. “Though, if Lady Trevelyan had time, she would’ve found a way to kill me.”

   “This slaver.” Cassandra fought to keep her voice steady. “Was he the one you killed at the Conclave?”

   “No. Just one of the many stops on the journey of my horrible life. I was sold again in a matter of days. My destination was Val Royeaux for… For…” He found the words frozen in his throat.

   Cassandra moved forward, resting her sin on the edge of the cot bringing them eye to eye. “Please don’t hold back, Aiden.”

   “I don’t want you to know.”

   “The weight of your past hands around your neck, choking the very life out of you. I ache every day watching you try to carry it.” She brushed his loose hair from the side of his face, her fingers lingering against his temple. “You’re trying to break free, but you won’t even begin to heal if you keep it bottled up inside. Trust me.”

   “You’re the only person in this blasted world I do trust.”

   “Then talk to me.”

   “I was sent there for formal training.” Aiden took in a ragged breath. “As a sex slave.”

   She stroked his damp temple, listening to Aiden describe the details of the nightmare that had been his life. Each word, each fact, caused her blood to boil and she fought the urge to shake from her anger. Bought and sold like a piece of meat. Abused for countless hours, raped, tortured by men, women, elf, and Qunari. Anyone willing to cough up the coin. Then once he was too damaged they sold him against to be at the mercy of a complete monster. She wanted to kill every single one of them that left a mark on his body. His soul. His spirit.

   “Then they started forcing drugs into my system. They took away my control, leaving me paralyzed and at the mercy of the customer.” Aiden swallowed the lump forming in the back of his throat. A small weight that had been dragging him down his entire life started to shift and he began to even feel lighter as he bared his past to her. Regardless of the outcome, it felt good to let it out. “Customers wanted something different. Something more as I got older. They had this red dust they would blow in my face. It made my body hard and blood burn for hours until it worked its way out of my system. No longer was I paralyzed or obedient. I was a beast. So wild with need and  hunger. No matter how many times I spilled my seed, I never found relief.”

   Aiden grew quiet leaving Cassandra to conclude he had share enough for one afternoon. Grabbing a potion, she uncorked it and held it to his lips. “Drink and rest, Trevelyan.”

   His blue eyes flickered to hers, hesitant.

   “I’m not going anywhere,” She promised. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

   Content with her reassurance, Aiden drank the potion, closed his eyes, and drifted off.

   Cassandra set the empty vial aside. Once she was sure he was out for the count, she peeled back the sleeve of her tunic and started at the name on her skin. It was humming again, in a pleasant way as she continued to stare. How could she have not put two and two together whenever her soul mark acted up when she was near him? She had just thought it was wishful thinking as her feelings for the man started to shift from disdain to affection. She should be thrilled that after so many years she found the person whose name she bore. But what did it mean that Aiden didn’t have a soul mark of his own? Was it possible that Aiden was simply a man with the same name as her mark and had no connection with her heart and soul?

   Cassandra traced a fingertip over each letter. Thoughts and questions rampaged around in her brain. She didn’t even know where to begin to sort them out let alone voice them aloud. Cassandra found herself terrified of one thought in particular. What if he didn’t have a soul mark because he wasn’t meant for this world much longer? Her gaze fell to his marked hand tracking the glowing tint of the veins. The mark was spreading and it seemed like there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it. She feared that it would take him away in the end.

   Sighing, she rested her head against the wall and let herself drift off herself setting aside this issue for another time.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

   Sometime later, Aiden opened his heavy eyelids to find the spot Cassandra had been occupying empty. He frowned unsure why he allowed himself to get his hopes up in the first place.

   “Are you in pain?”

   Lifting his head, Aiden looked over his shoulder finding Cassandra undressing his back. “It twinges and burns,” He admitted trying to gauge the healing state of his wound. A hard task with the paste still caked into his skin. “What’s the verdict, Seeker?”

   Cassandra crumbled the used bandages and tossed them aside. “I have to clean you up first. From what I can see, most of the wounds have healed over enough they most likely won’t break open so easily.”

   Aiden shifted, groaning at the sharp pain shooting through his back. “I need to sit up.”

   Cassandra positioned herself and instructed him to wrap his arms around her neck once more. Grabbing him by the waist, she helped him shift until he was sitting up with his legs dangling off the edge of the bed.

   Neither of them made an attempt to break apart.

   Aiden’s hand slipped up her throat to her cheek, stroking his thumb over her scar. “You’re still here.”

   Smiling, she nuzzled into his touch. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

   His brow furrowed ever so slightly. “Why?”

   “It’s simple.”

   “Enlighten me, Seeker.”

   “I care about you.”

   Tears welling in his eyes caught Aiden off guard. The last time he shed a tear was that moment of realization he was free from Bryn. Sitting here, his face cradled in her hands, there was a surge of emotions that left his heart pounding in his chest. A single tear slid down his cheek that Cassandra caught with the pad of her thumb. “You’re the first person to.”

   Cassandra would make him see that she wasn’t the only one. There were people back at Haven who cared about him and not just because of the mark. He had friends. A family, as dysfunctional as it was, who would stand by him regardless of his past. “Do you want to get up?”

   A blush dusted his cheek. “I need to use the privy.”

   “There is a chamber pot in the corner.” She helped him to his feet and stepped back once she was sure he wouldn’t fall flat on his face. “I’m going to go fetch a wash bucket and soap so we can clean the paste from your back.”

   “Thank you, Cassandra.”

   After gathering the supplies she needed, Cassandra returned to the cabin and instructed the Herald to sit on the floor. Joining him, she tucked a towel into the back of Aiden’s waistband in hopes to keep his trousers somewhat dry. Taking a leather tie from Aiden’s bag, she reached up to gather his hair only to jerk back when he jerked forward away from her grasp. “I’m sorry,” Cassandra whispered feeling sorrow over the fact Aiden thought every touch was meant to cause pain. “I should’ve told you what I was doing.”

   “I’m the one that’s sorry.” Aiden hated his body reacted in such a way with her. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Cassandra would never do anything to intentionally hurt or cause him pain in any way. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to feel your touch.”

   She felt her heart flutter at his words. “Can I tie back your hair?”

   “Yes.”

   Moving carefully, Cassandra collected up Aiden’s long ink-black hair and tied it up and off his neck. “There.” She dunked the cloth into the water bucket. “I couldn’t find a fire rune so the water is a bit cold.”

   Aiden cringed the moment the wet cloth hit his shoulder. Hands curling in his lap, he fought a flood of dark memories from taking over. Too many nights in a cramped cell blasted with buckets of freezing cold water had his gaze seeking the sunlight spilling through the porthole window.

   Cassandra felt him stiffen under his touch. “Am I hurting you?”

   “No,” He softly assured, nails biting into his palm hard enough to break the skin. “Just keep talking.”

   “What about?”

   “Anything.” Her voice always soothed him.

   “Do-Did…” Cassandra wasn’t sure what questions to ask or which topics were safe to touch upon. She took a calming breath before she spoke, “Did you have any siblings?”

   “Four,” Aiden answered even though he hated thinking about the Trevelyan clan. He didn’t even know why he used his father’s name. Maybe it was his way of saying a big ‘fuck you’ to the man and let the world know about the mysterious member of the Trevelyan Clan. “I don’t remember much about them. They treated me like parasite thanks of Lady Trevelyan’s influence. Well, except Allison.”  

   Cassandra dunked the washcloth in the bucket of water to clean it of pace and wrung it out. “Older?”

   He shook his head. “She was about five years older than me and the only person in that estate who treated me with an ounce of kindness.” Aiden grew silent for a moment trying not to hiss when the cloth passed over his skin. This time it was out of pain. He gritted through it. “I wonder what ever happened to her or what they told her about why I suddenly disappeared.”

   “Looks like the wounds are closed over. Another potion or two and they will be healed.”

   “Don’t fret about the scaring.” Aiden gave her a soft smile. “I doubt a few more will bring my self-esteem any lower.”

   “I will never let go of the guilt knowing that I’m the cause of these ones,” Cassandra whispered. “And you’re still in pain. I wish I had something more than whiskey and healing potions.”

   He eyed his bag and could feel his veins thirst for that vial laid inside. He dropped his gaze to his marked hand, fighting his nervousness. “I know I’m not the one you or anyone else would have chosen to be the one tasked with closing the breach. To be the one to bear the title Herald of Andraste. Shit, I didn’t even want the damn thing or the responsibility. I would rather have walked away and continued to live my life in the shadows.”

   “It is true that I question the Maker’s choice in letting you and you alone survive the Conclave.” Cassandra still felt a bit of bitterness towards Aiden. She knew deep down he was the catalyst for all her anger of losing not only the Divine but Galyan as well. “I was surprised you didn’t leave and when you didn’t I knew there was more to you then what met the eye. Now, I know that to be true.”

   Aiden couldn’t help but scoff.

   Cassandra moved lower with the cloth. “You’re a good man, Aiden Trevelyan. Whether you believe it or not. You want to help people and not just because the Inquisition asks it of you. You’re who we needed and still need.”

   “I’m not worthy of such words.”

   “Too bad.”

   “I want to be the leader you think I am, but I can’t until-…”

   “Until what?” She tried not to push too much not wanting to lose any ground they recently gained.

   “I know you wonder when you wake up at first light and see me awake if I even slept and the truth is I didn’t. If I sleep then that means night terrors. If I had those in the middle of camp it would only draw questions about me.” He heard the cloth hit the water again before it began to clean the rest of the paste from his back. “I take these potions. A special brew that I learned after I escaped. Taking them is the only thing that keeps my mind from being overrun with the horrors of my life. The only way I can cope with my pain and the anxiety.”

   “Are you telling me this to push me away?”

   “No,” Aiden quickly corrected. “It’s like you said before, my past is a heavy chain around my neck and it will always be there until I do something about it. I want to be that person you see in me. I want to be more than a man haunted by his past.”

   Cassandra dropped the cloth back in the bucket now that she was finished. “What is stopping you?”

   “These potions, they’re my lifeline.”

   “It doesn’t have to be.”

   “I do want to stop taking them, but drugs have been part of my life for so long that I don’t know how to function without them.” He rubbed a hand over his weary face. “The potions are what tie me to my past. If I cut the cord then maybe I can start to become more.”

   “If you don’t want to take them, then don’t.”

   A soft chuckle escaped him. “It’s not that easy, Lass.”

   “I didn’t say it would be.” She began to trace one of the nastier scars that ran along the back of his shoulder. What had made this one? Cassandra shook the thought from her head. “However, you don’t have to go through it alone. There are people that will help you. I will help you.”

   It amazed him how soothing such a simple touch could be. Aiden found himself leaning back, basking in the warmth of her skin against his. His head turned, their noses brushing and their breath mingling. He could see the fire start to burn in her dark eyes and that same flame burned within him. Every time he opened up, Aiden expected her to recoil and put as much distance as she could from him. Both literally and figuratively. And every time she surprised him.

   Taking her face in his hands, he slammed his mouth to hers, kissing her like he wanted to back in that cell. His lips moved against hers, hard and fast, drawing small sounds of pleasure from her. Each one only added fuel to the fire. He wanted her. Maker in heaven he wanted her like he never thought he could want in his life.

   The force of the kiss knocked Cassandra back and she happily allowed Aiden to stretch out above her and continue to torment her. He nibbled at her bottom lip, coaxing her to open so he could dive them deeper into the abyss. She desperately wanted to touch him only she feared that it would break the spell.

   His hands slid down her throat in search of more and found her still dressed in her armor. “For fuck’s sake, Lass.” Frustrated, Aiden wrestled with the buckles of her breastplate. “Why do you always have to wear this blasted thing.”

   “Shut up and hurry.” She was sweltering from the inside out. Burning with the need to feel him buried inside her. She took it upon herself to release the last two buckles and felt the last one rip apart under Aiden’s tugging.

   Throwing the piece of armor aside, Aiden yanked up the hem of her tunic, using it to tangle her arms above her head. He held them there, his other hand falling to the column of her throat as his mouth plundered hers. He bucked into her, dragging his rock-hard arousal across her clothed covered core and began to drown at the high pitch wine he provoked from her.

   “Aiden.” Cassandra tried to break free. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his flesh pressed against hers.

    He complied to her unspoken demand and released his hold before starting his sensual assault on her body. He wasn’t gentle. He couldn’t be and even if it was within him, the hunger for her was too great to try. Moving downward, Aiden used teeth, mouth, and hands to make the Seeker cry out in pleasure. With her fingers tangled in his hair, Aiden nipped at her hip. “I never wanted anyone. Never thought I could.” Scraping his jaw along her flesh, his gaze flickered upward, tracking the marks he left in his wake until they settled on her dark one. Her face was flush and eyes were blown wide with unfathomed lust. “But, by the light, all I want is to please you. Ravish you until you can’t move. Claim you, make you scream my name so others know you’re mine.”

   “Yes, Maker, yes!” Cassandra’s head was spinning from his touch, words, and scent. Time seemed to slow to an agonizing pace as Aiden worked the buttons of her leathers. “Aiden, please.”

   A sure of animalist pride surged through him for being able to make the incredible and might Seeker of Truth beg. Hooking his fingers in the band of her trousers, Aiden began to peel them away when a knock on the floor had him jerking away from the warrior. He’d been so wrapped up in her, he’d completely forgotten they were on a boat surrounded by people who could’ve walked in on them at any time. He braced his foot against the door in case whoever was on the other side decided to open it.

   Cassandra fought to steady her voice before speaking, “Yes?”

   “We’re a few minutes from docking,” Bull informed on the other side of the door.

   “Thank you. We’ll be right out.”

   Aiden waited until the sound of the Qunari’s heavy footsteps faded before he moved to kneel between her legs. “This is far from over, Seeker.”

   The corner of her mouth lifted. “I’d be sorely disappointed if it was.”

   Planting his hands on either side of her head, he lowered his face to hers. “A minx and a hellcat.”

   “Problem, Trevelyan?”

   “Andraste, no.”

   “Good.” Cassandra pushed at his scarred chest, her eyes once against doing a sweep in hope to find a soul mark. She called upon all her willpower not to let the disappointment show while turning her arm inward before he could notice her own. “You need to move so we can get dressed before he comes back. Or worse, Varric.”

   Reluctantly, Aiden pushed to his feet and help Cassandra to hers. “I do find myself without a shirt, Seeker. Since you kindly ripped mine to shreds.”

   Cassandra pulled her own over her head and smoothed her hair back into place wanting to give no indication to the damn storyteller of what transpired between them. At least not until they had the chance to fully talk about it. “I’m sure with a boat full of sailors I can find you one.”

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iden was born as a result of Maxwell Trevelyan cornering his mother, an elf and servant, one dark night when he was drunk. Not wanting the scandal following the Trevelyan name, Maxwell’s wife pretended to be with child while Aiden’s mother was locked away until she gave birth. Aiden doesn’t know the fate of his mother. He was brought up as a Trevelyan with his siblings. Lady Trevelyan never showed him an ounce of kindness and only suffered him because Maxwell convinced her Aiden would have his uses when he was older. Only Aiden didn’t stay with the Trevelyan’s for long. At the age of six his parentage was starting to come to light as his blue eyes started to glow as common among elfs. Knowing that there was no way to conceal that he was half elven, Lady Trevelyan demanded that her husband get rid of his bastard anyway necessary.
> 
> Maxwell sold his son to an elven slaver. First Aiden was taken to be broken in before being shipped to Val Royeaux for formal training as a sex slave. Aiden was a fighter. He refused to give into his fate and his ‘training’. They resorted to magic and potions, stripping away Aiden’s control over his body. For years, Aiden was used for other’s people’s pleasure.Raped, physically and mentally abused for years Aiden became a heavily scarred and bitter man. As he grew older and became branded with too many scars, Aiden was sold once again to be some noble’s person sex slave. 
> 
> Kept in a cage in the pitch dark, Aiden bent to his masters will and was subject to the man’s torture and being parade around for others to see. He tried to end his life on more than on occasion, but his master never let it happen as he always kept him under guard and quickly healed the rogue on every attempt. when he was tweny two, they were sailing on their way from Kirkwall when he jumped ship. He washed up on the shores of Kirkwall and was discovered by the Champion and his companion. Hawke took Aiden to his estate to heal and rest. Once he deemed himself strong enough, Aiden stole money, clothes, and supplies and left Kirkwall.
> 
> From there, Aiden spent his time wondering around Ferelden sticking to the shadows. He stole and used his training to get moeny as fear of his master finding him kept Aiden from finding a real job. He figured he wouldn’t be able to find one as he didn’t know how to read or write. He taught himself how to draw as it was far easier than learning to write. Aiden found himself in Kirkwall right around the time of the Mage uprising and it was there he realized that the only way to be free was to kill his former master. That way there was no more looking over his shoulder, living in the shadows and fear that someone would recognize him and send him back to his master. Or worse Val Royeaux.
> 
> Aiden tracked his former master to the conclave. There he broke in and killed the man. As he was choking the life out of him, Aiden heard a voice calling out for help. After that, Aiden couldn’t recall what happened between then and when he woke up handcuffed in some dark jail cell.


	4. Chapter 4

   Checking the buckle of the saddle for the last time, Cassandra glanced over the mount towards the Herald. She knew by the way he carried his weight he was still in a good amount of pain. More than a simple healing potion or drink could ease. His back was to her and the rest of his companions, his head bowed as if he was studying his hands. Or rather something in them. Cassandra moved to his side. “Is that what you’ve been taking?”

   Aiden nodded in shame. He held up the vial to study the golden liquid that was encased in the glass. Sweat broke out across his brow and his veins thirsted desperately for the potion. How could he give up something that had been his lifeline for so long? But he had been truthful when he told her he wanted a life away from the drug. Away from the horrors of his past.

   “Take it if you must as I know the journey back will be quite painful.”

   He simply raised a brow.

   “I am more than willing to help you any way I can, but you need to take the first step. It has to be what you want.” Cassandra reached a hand to his face only for him to jump, not jerk, back away from her touch. She frowned at the look on his face. “What?”

   Aiden’s gaze darted around to all the people nearby. “People can see.”

   The weight and meaning of his words knocked at her heart. All his life he had been treated like he didn’t exist or worse, that he was a parasite, not to be acknowledged or be seen to close to in fear of ruining their reputation. Fighting tears, she rose on her toes to press her mouth to his. Aiden took in a sharp breath, stiffening under her touch leaving Cassandra to think that she had miscalculated. To think that maybe this was something Aiden wasn’t ready for. Then, as she was about to pull away, his calloused hands were on her face and lips moving hungrily against hers

   Neither of them noticed the potion vial shattering on the ground.

   Slowly, Cassandra drew back to meet his glowing gaze. “I don’t care.”

   Aiden couldn’t speak. Not with the storm of emotions raging through him.

   “Damn.” Varric curse had the pair turning. The dwarf was digging into his coin pouch on his belt. “You two just cost me a hundred silver.”

   Bull happily took the coins.

   “What are you two going on about?” Cassandra gently demanded.

   “I wagered that it would still be another three months before you two either jumped or killed each other.”

   Aiden found the blush dusting the Seeker’s cheeks endearing. “technically, no jumping has actually happened.”

   Cassandra pinned him with a glare. “Killing is still a viable option.”

   “Empty words, Seeker.” Aiden grinned. Maker, it felt good to laugh after the last couple of days. “You would have done it already.”

   “Get on the horse, Trevelyan. And if you fall off don’t think I’m helping.”

   “You’re a delightful woman, Lass.” Gritting through the pain, Aiden climbed up into the saddle.

   “I object,” Cassandra stated while joining him atop the horse. “There is nothing delightful about me.”

   He pressed his lips to the shell of her ear. “Guess I’ll just have to convince you.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

   The gate of Haven was a welcoming sight. Aiden wasn’t sure he could endure any more pain without passing out. He was already slumped heavily against his riding companion to keep himself from falling off the horse.

   Dorian, Cullen, and Josephine were waiting for them by the stables.

   The mage made a clucking noise with his tongue. “Can’t you go anywhere without causing trouble?”

   A tired smile crossed Aiden’s face. “Where’s the fun in that.”

   Noting the way Aiden swayed in the saddle, Cullen quickly moved to the mount he shared with Cassandra to help the rouge slide off. “You’re heavier than you look, Trevelyan.”

   “I still can’t believe this happened,” Josephine spoke with a frown. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t intervene. By the time we received the raven, it was too late.”

   Fighting a fresh wave of guilt, Cassandra hopped down to the snowy ground. “Not sure the Knight-Captain would have been swayed even if a raven did get to him.” Cassandra carefully wrapped her arm around Aiden’s waist, taking his weighty from the Commander.

   Aiden gripped her shoulders. “What’s done is done.” The more they talked about it, the more Cassandra’s guilt would fester.

   “I figured you’d want a bath upon your return,” Dorian spoke. “We have one set up in your cabin. I left a few fire runes. Once you’re all cleaned up, I’ll come by to see what healing can be done.”

   Cassandra senses Aiden’s discomfort and knew he didn’t want any more people to have to see his scarred body. She gave him a gentle and reassuring squeeze helping to stop some of the color from draining from his face.

   Aiden was grateful for her support. “I think between the Seeker’s care and healing drafts, I’ll be okay. But I do appreciate the thought of the bath. I could use a nice soak.”

   “Is there anything you need besides rest?” Cullen asked.

   “I’ll be fine,” Aiden assured.

   “I’ll get him to his cabin and come fill you in,” Cassandra informed before helping Aiden down the path towards the main gates.

   “Hmm, looks like you owe me fifty silvers.” Dorian watched the pair noting the way they clung to one another. It was different. It was intimate.

   Josephine’s brow rose in confusion.

   The Commander grinned. “You’ll get your winnings, ‘Vint. Come.” Cullen motioned for the other two companions to dismount. “Let’s get out of this cold so you can tell us about this new development.”

0o0o0o0o0o00o0

   Breaking the surface of the water, Aiden shook his hair sending fat drops of water raining all about. Merthin, having been hit with his fair share of them, lifted his head from his folded paw and grumbled.

   Aiden looked over the edge of the wooden tub. “Hate to break it to you pal, but you’re due for a bath yourself.”

   The hound quipped before moving across the room. Watching the human with weary eyes, Merthin curled near the hearth.

   Aiden soaped up the washcloth and began to scrub himself clean. He tried to be quick. He could never stand the sight of his own marred body. That was his reasoning for wearing long sleeves and a hooded cloak to cast his face in shadows. His scars would only draw questions. Draw looks of pity and disdain.

   He passed the cloth over his shoulder and remembered Cassandra’s calloused fingers tracing the path of one of the scars there. Remembering the heat of her touch had his body stirring all over again. Everything that transpired on the boat replayed in his head. It was nice to have pleasant memories for once. There had been so much hunger. So much want-no-need. And it was for him. For the first time in his miserable life, someone truly wanted him. Wanted to please him. Maybe even love him?

   His throat suddenly became tight as his body hardened and pulsed almost to the point of pain. Usually, he would ignore it as the pain was just something he was used to. But the ache was too great to do that. Possibly for the first time, Aiden’s hand dropped into the water and wrapped his fingers around his arousal in seek of pleasuring himself.  This was new. It felt well pleasant as he stroked his hand down his cock. A new sensation thanks to Cassandra.

   “Fuck.” Aiden threw his head back. It was all too easy to imagine Cassandra’s slender yet strong hand in place of his sliding up and down himself. He could feel her lips against his.

   Cassandra slipped into the Herald’s dwelling in time to hear a groan in Aiden’s Free Marcher burr in the form of her name. Heat instantly pooled between her legs. She found herself rooted to the spot, enthralled by Aiden’s expression and soft whimpers. She had never seen him so unguarded before. So lost in emotions other than fear and hatred.

   The soft click of a lock jolted Aiden out of his lust filled haze. Cursing, he hastily climbed out of the tub, snatching the dagger off the nearby table. He caught sight of Merthin still curled by the hearth before whirling around to face the intruder. “Blight it, Lass.” Aiden managed to stop himself before the tip of the blade touched Cassandra’s neck. No wonder the hound hadn’t moved.

   She held his gaze for a long moment before she briefly dropped her gaze. “Just which weapon do you intend to attack me with, Trevelyan?”

   Her words snapped something inside him. The blade clattered against the cobblestone floor to free Aiden’s hands in order to take her and pull her as close as possible, plundering her mouth with his own. Like on the boat, Cassandra met his raw hunger with that of her own.

   Curling his hand in the short strands of her hair, Aiden changed the kiss to a bruising one. He spun her around, lifting her onto the table sending a dozen of things scattering in the process. He pressed into her desperate to feel her. To brand her as he promised.

   Merthin pranced about near the pair unable to decide if his two masters were in need of defending from one another.

   Aiden pulled away and snapped at the hound. “Calm.”

   Merthin stopped and cocked his head.

   “I’m fine,” Aiden barked burying his face in the Seeker’s throat. The scent of lavender that clung to her skin helped contain the beast raging inside him.

   “Go, Merthin,” Cassandra commanded between ragged breaths bringing her hands to his slick shoulders.

   Aiden tensed. A conditioned response even though her hands were nothing but gentle as they streaked across his back. Never faltering over any patch of raised skin. Aiden groaned fighting a shiver when her fingers caressed the particular scar streaking across the nape of his neck.

   “Aiden,” She breathed into his ear. “For the love of the Maker touch me.”

   Aiden was more than happy to comply. Not wasting his time with pleasantries, he tore her tunic in two. A surge of pride washed through him upon seeing the marks he left on the boat scattered across her chest. _Mine!_ He flattened his palm against her skin and dragged it almost teasingly between the valley of her breasts, savoring the slight hitch in her breathing. “If you don’t want this.” His glowing gaze met hers. “Don’t want me, tell me now.”

   Cassandra’s hands slid from his shoulders, sweeping down his chest and stomach before wrapping them around his pulsing arousal. She swallowed his sound of pleasure by taking his mouth in a greedy and needy kiss.

   He caught her by the wrist. “Cassandra.” Aiden wanted her to say the words. Needed to.

   “I want you,” She whispered watching his eyes darkening as he pushed himself further into her wonderful hands. The sad fact occurred to her that he’d never heard those words before. Her heart ached. This time her kiss was gentle, loving. Maker’s breath, she loved this man. All the more reason that the name on her arm had to belong to this man. “I want you, Aiden Trevelyan. I want you to ravish me until I can’t move. Claim me, make me scream your name so all of Haven know I’m yours.”

   Hooking her legs around his waist, Aiden stumbled until they fell onto the bed. He worked his way down her body, desperate to explore every inch of her. To mark her with his touch. This time Aiden didn’t tease. He all but ripped the laces of her leathers apart. He tugged and a curse fell from his swollen lips finding her bare underneath.

   “Boots!” Cassandra tried to kick them off wanting to be free of any barriers that kept her from his touch. “Boots!”

   Merthin looked up as one thudded against the wall and watched as the other nearly ended up in the fire roaring in the hearth. He barked in displeasure when Cassandra’s discarded leathers hit him in the face. Of course, it didn’t faze the two humans who were too lost in each other to care. Grumbling, he trotted across the room and laid down by the door, his back towards them.

   Sitting back, Aiden soaked up the sight of her memorized by the way her breasts moved with her uneven breathing. He ran his fingers over her wide hips, brushing against the dark curls between her legs and finding her drenched. “Cassandra.” Now, his breath was uneven as he fought against the primal urge to take her. He didn’t want to rush this. He wanted to savor every moment.

   His hands fell to caress her tights causing Cassandra to whine in protest. “Don’t tease, Trevelyan.”

   “I’ll leave that for another day.”

   “Then what are you waiting for?”

   “I-I need to know what pleases you.” He knew how to please a person after all it had been ingrained into his brain at an early age. But Cassandra wasn’t some stranger he had been paid to pleasure. This was his Seeker. The first person he ever desired. Ever wanted. Needed. “Show me how.”

    Cassandra felt her skin flush under the Herald’s fiery gaze. Was he really asking her-Maker, he was! He wanted her to touch herself like she did when she was alone. Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, Cassandra found her hand drifting as she worked her way through her own shyness.

   Aiden watched her intently tracking the one hand that cupped her heavy breath while he watched the other travel down the plains of her stomach. “Fuck.” At first, he didn’t know where to look. He didn’t want to miss a moment of learning. Then he saw her fingers disappear into her curls and found his gaze glued there, watching her pull her lips apart to expose her swollen bundle of nerves. “Don’t stop.”

   She couldn’t even if she truly wanted to. The thickness in his powerful voice had her complying. Watching him as he watched her, Cassandra touched herself imagining that it was his fingers dipping down to tease her entrance. Her hips bucked the moment the tips of her fingers pressed against her clit evoking a deep groan from the Herald. Arousal was etched into every inch of his scarred face. Could it be because of simply watching her? Did men find pleasure in such things? His hand stroking over his cock coated in arousal answered her question.

   Her hips bucked again and his name fell from her lips in a breathless murmmer. Aiden ran his free hand down her calf feeling her leg trembling. “Have you touched yourself while thinking of me, Lass?”

   “Yes?”

   “Nearly every night in camp, I want to crawl into your tent to find out what you looked like under all that armor.” He fell forward catching himself over her and took her perked nipple between his teeth. The sound she made had his cock twitching. “I wanted to know how you felt under my hands.”

   Cassandra arched into his mouth tormenting her breast sending a jolt of pleasurable pain to her already aching core. “Aiden.” She twisted wanting his hands on her instead of her own. She wanted his hands to be the one driving her to the brink.

   Taking the hand from between her legs, Aiden lifted his head to look at her. “I wanted to know how you tasted.” He slid her fingers, slick with her arousal, into his mouth. He took his time, suckling the juices from each digit making her writhe against him.

   She rocked herself against the thigh planted between her legs, trying to find the friction she desperately wanted. It wasn’t enough. The nails of her free hand dug into his arm. “Aiden, please.”

   A surge of power tore through him at the sound of her broken pleas. Power of knowledge that he could make the might Seeker beg. Releasing her fingers, Aiden trailed his mouth down her stomach while he cupped her sex. “Mother of Andraste.” He pressed his brow against her hip. “You’re dripping.”

   Hands twisted in his hair, Cassandra held him still unsure and a bit afraid of what was to come next. “I-I.” She found it difficult to think.

   Brushing his lips against her mound, Aiden slipped a finger into her sheath finding her scolding hot and incredibly tight. Another pass of his lips had her tensing. His gaze sought hers. “Has no one ever touched you like this?”

   “There was one man.” She squirmed at the feel of his breath fanning across her core. “But he never… I mean-Maker, it wasn’t like this.” Everything seemed brand new and overwhelming. It was making her head spin and leaving it difficult to think. “I don’t know if I can.”

   “Relax,” He purred easing his finger back into her heat. “And let me have you, Cassandra.”

   “I’m yours, Aiden.”

   Hearing his name rolling in her Navarran accent had his heart skipping a beat. Maker, he didn’t deserve a precious gift as her, but Aiden wasn’t going to let this moment pass him by.

   Cassandra’s hips shot off the bed, hands pulling hard at his hair as his mouth closed over her. There was no way for her to prepare herself for the onslaught of pleasure to wash there her from a single touch. Her legs shifted, opening herself completely for him and everything he wanted to give. “Oh,” A gasp of surprise filled the room. Aiden was building her up so fast with his skilled mouth and clever fingers curling inside her that it left her unable to pull air into her lungs. Was this how it was truly supposed to be? Was it so overwhelming because this man was indeed her soulmate? Soon, her mind began to blank driving away any thoughts in order to focus on nothing but the pleasure. “Don’t… Don’t stop.”

   If it was possible, Aiden would spend the rest of his days just like this, pleasuring her in every way humanly possible. Clamping a hand on her thigh, he forced his heavy lids open and looked up. Never in his life had he seen a more breathtaking sight than Cassandra in the throughs of passion. Or heard a sweeter sound than his name falling from her lips like rain.

   Aiden ground as her hands twisted in his hair to pull him harder against her. He could tell in the way the muscles of her thighs trembled that she was chasing her release. “That’s it, Lass,” He panted against her. “Come for me.”

   Almost as if her body was waiting for his permission, Cassandra flew over the edge with her cries of pleasure echoing off the walls.

   He didn’t let go. He rode out her orgasm desperate to prolong her pleasure for as long as possible.

   “Aiden.” Coming down, Cassandra shifted trying to break free. His lips continued to pull relentlessly at her engorged pearl and the pleasure was all too much to bear. “Aiden, I can’t. Please. Stop.”

   Aiden immediately complied and felt her body go lax. “Fucking Maker.” He lunged forward slamming his mouth to hers. His cock pulsed painfully feeling her moan the moment she tasted herself. “Cassandra.”

   “I want you inside me, Trevelyan.” She wrapped her legs around his narrow wrist bringing his arousal to her slick folds. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

   Planting his hands on either side of her head, he called on every ounce of control to sink slowly into her remembering how tight she’d been. Her name fell from his lips the moment he filled her to the hilt. Aiden dropped his brow to hers basking in the feel of being buried inside of her wonderful heat.

   She clawed at his shoulders, nails marking his skin. “Aiden.”

   Fisting his hand in her hair, Aiden pulled her head back until their lips tangled together. He found the act of kissing far more enjoyable than he thought. It was another way for him to feel her passion. Her desire and need. Keeping her mouth fused with hers, Aiden began to move within her.

   Sensing his desperation to maintain the connection, Cassandra moved and tilted her head every which way to keep their lips pressed together. He set a brutal pace, each snap of his hips drawing a whimper from her. The kiss lost any gentleness to it becoming all teeth and tongue. Cassandra welcomed the roughness, the pleasure steaming from the sweet pain he was inflicting on her. This was the raw hunger and passion she read about and longed to experience. And she wanted all that Aiden wanted to give. Wanted him to rule over her. Brand her.

   Aiden felt his release coiling and didn’t have to strength to heed it off. He groaned into her mouth, his hips now becoming erratic with each thrust. Something was happening. Something far different than he ever experienced. The feeling mounting inside him was nearly too much. It squeezed his chest so tight that he couldn’t breathe.

   Tearing his mouth free, a howl tore from his throat the moment he hit his peak.

   If Cassandra hadn’t been watching him, hadn’t seen the blissful pleasure flooding his face, she would’ve thought the sound was one of deep pain. He went rigid, his hips jerking as he swelled inside her and spilled his seed. His sounds of ecstasy tapered off to soft whimpers while rocking against her for a few more torturous moments of pleasure he’d never felt before.

   Feeling him trembling, Cassandra held him right. “Aiden.”

   Releasing his grip on her hair, his head found the crock of her neck. He couldn’t seem to stop his shaking or even his breathing. Tears began to burn in the back of his throat. “I didn’t… I never.” Aiden lapped the sweat from her thudding pulse. “I didn’t know it could be like that.”

   She eased his head back, brushing his loose damp hair from his flushed face. Maker, the way he looked at her. It left her positively breathless. And she wasn’t sure if she ever wanted it back if it meant to have him continue to look at her with such admiration. Affection. The wetness clinging to his dark lashes made Cassandra’s heart swell. “Was there no one after?”

    “There were a few women I sought out. Though it was mostly to prove to myself that I could. But this…” Turning his head, Aiden pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. He did his best to ignore the panic bubbling to the surface at the soul mark on her arm. Even knowing that this would one-day end, he wouldn’t or more couldn’t keep himself from this wonderful woman. “This is different. Is it always like this?”

   “I don’t think so,” Cassandra whispered nuzzling his bearded cheek. “It wasn’t like this before for me either. I don’t think it’s like this for everyone. This is more.” And exactly the _more_ she’d been not so patiently waiting for.

   He splayed his fingers against her cheek. “Maker, Cassandra. I’ve just spent myself and I already want you again. I need you.” He took her already swollen lips into a hungry kiss. The sound, a high pitched mewl trapped in the back of her throat, ignited another fire inside him. “I want to spend the rest of the day ravishing you. Making you come over and over until your body is too weak for more.”

   His mouth was on her breast again, tongue and teeth tormenting her until she was arched against him and clinging to his shoulders. Cassandra gasped feeling him start to harden within her. How was that even possible? “Aiden.”

   By the light, he’d never tire of hearing his name rolling off her tongue. He lifted his head, his voice shaking with raw emotions. “You’ve awakened something inside of me, Seeker.” Something he was still trying to comprehend. “I hope you’re prepared for it.”

   A smile crossed her face. “I’ve never been known to back down from a challenge. I don’t plan to start now.”

   “You may live to regret those words.”

   “Don’t think that’s possible.” She grinned and playfully nipped at his bottom lip. “Are you going to ravish me now, Trevelyan?”

   The corner of his mouth lifted, glowing eyes turning feral. “Will you let me, Lass?”

   Oh, sweet blessed Andraste. Her hands fell to his chest to stop him from lunging upwards. “If the Herald would be so kind to allow me a moment or two of rest before you start as I’m sure none will follow after.”

   He chuckled against her mouth only for it to turn into a deep hiss of pain that seemed to steam from the tips of her fingers. He knew this scorching sensation though it had been quite some time since he felt such a thing.

   Aiden dropped his head and sure enough, those nine letters appeared over the patch of disfigured skin that kid them. Pressure started to build in his chest, terrifying him completely. Why would his soul mark appear now after being dormant for years? The emotions running through him was hard to comprehend so he settled on panic. What was happening? What did this mean? How would this change what just happened between them?

   Cassandra’s own emotions were running ramped but for a different reason. Ever since she learned of his first name, she sought every opportunity to find his mark. When she didn’t and believe it when she said she really tried, it left her devastated that she found herself falling in love with the man not truly meant for her. Now that her shock was wearing off, Cassandra saw that her new-found lover’s face was contorted in deep pain. He was muttering under his breath and refusing to look at her. Now her happiness turned straight into betrayal. He was all content being with her only a few moments ago. Now? It, well, he looked downright pissed.

   Before she could fly off the handles and let her anger get the best of her, Cassandra came to a heart-wrenching realization. He didn’t know that it was her name branded into his skin. Even with their tutoring sessions, Aiden struggled to string letters together to form words. Three to four were a challenge. Nine would be impossible.

   “Aiden.”

   He shook his head and shifted to his side next to her. This couldn’t be! Cassandra was the woman he longed to be with. The one he wanted. Needed. Hadn’t the fucking Maker and his damn bride screwed him over enough?

   “Aiden,” Cassandra repeated. “A-I-D-E-N.”

   “What?” Brow furrowed, he pulled himself from his thoughts and focused on the skin of the Seeker’s forearm. On her soul mark. He’d been so lost in being with her, in the pleasure, he didn’t even think to look for one.

   She rested the back of her arm against Aiden’s hip so the five letters inked into her skin showed. The soul mark pulsed much as it did on the day they first met, but this time it was an almost pleasant feeling. “What is your name?”

   He took a moment before answering beyond terrified about what she was trying to get him to understand. “Aiden.”

   She held his gaze trying to convey everything she was feeling in one look. “A-I-D-E-N.”

   Meaning finally sinking in, Aiden’s blue eyes rounded. With a trembling hand, Aiden ran his palm over the name on her skin. His name. Maybe the Maker was far more kind than Aiden perceived him to be. “My name?” He had to ask to be sure.

   “Yes.” The look of utter joy on his face tears blurred her vision.

   Hastily, he rolled back ever so slightly to get a better view of his soul mark. He watched as she traced each letter with the pads of her fingers. “C-A-S-S-A-N-D-R-A.” His world literally hinged on her answer.

   There was no need to be ashamed or hide the tears shining brightly in her eyes. Her heart hummed its sound twisting from her to mix with the sound of Aiden’s. For a few precious moments, all was well in the world and they became stronger. Unbreakable even. She brushed her fingers over the scars cutting through his lips. “Cassandra.”

   A sob caught in his throat, Aiden surged forward muffling the should against her lips as he took them in a feverish kiss. A burst of emotions left him shaking like a leaf. It took him some time to realize what he was feeling was pure and utter happiness. He felt complete. Like everything, he could possibly want or ever need was right in front of him. In her. The sensation left him reeling.

   Smiling, Cassandra thumbed away the few tears that slipped down his marred cheek. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that together they could conquer anything. They would close the breach. Together. Like they’d always been, even if at first quite reluctantly, and like they’d always be. But there was one nagging thought she couldn’t shake. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were? Time is so unpredictable and we wasted so many precious moments.”

   “That’s what she-I mean-you.” Aiden took a moment to collect his scattered thoughts. It was incredibly hard to think past the feelings swirling inside him. “The you from that future said something similar.”

   “I wonder why she didn’t tell you.”

   He ran his hand over her damp hair to smooth down some wild strays. “There wasn’t much time, but I think part of her wanted to say something. She said she waited for so long and I got the feeling she wasn’t just talking about the year she’d been imprisoned.”

   “Of course, I had.” Cassandra’s grip tightened on his cheek. “I’ve been looking for you from the moment Anthony explained to me what a soul mark was. My entire life, I went through each day throwing myself into duty all the while I felt like a part of me was missing. That part being you.”

   “I think I’m glad she didn’t tell me.”

   Her brow wrinkled. “How so?”

   “I still harbor my fair share of hatred towards ‘fate’. When we first met there wasn’t an ounce of anything remotely good in me.” Aiden used the tips of his fingers to trace the letters on her arm. “If I had seen this and learned yet another thing was beyond my control in my life I wouldn’t have fought it. Denounced it even.”

   And that would have caused Cassandra pain beyond anything she could’ve imagined. There was an out clause, a small window of time, upon first meeting that someone could refuse their soulmate. The Maker and the fates couldn’t get it right every time.

   Now, Aiden’s fingertips swept across her cheekbone, along her jagged scar to play across her lips. His body was already hard and aching with the need to be with her again. “But for once, I was able to do something on my own. I grew to care for you, more than I thought possible. I got to know and respect you, even if you’re the most frustrating and infuriating woman in Thedas.”

   Cassandra chuckled. “You’re not the easiest person yourself, Trevelyan.”

   He blew out a long breath of frustration. Words were not his strong suit. “What I’m trying to say is that I was able to discover that on my own. And now knowing that you are meant for me and you know of my past and you accept me, make it all the more meaningful.”

   Moving on to her side, Cassandra bent to kiss the Herald’s soul mark. “Thank the Maker you go past the whole trying to chop your head off. Most men would be put off by that.”

   He grinned. “I’m not a timid man, Seeker.”

   “Don’t I know it.”

   “Rest now.” Aiden coaxed her head onto the pillows. He drew the blanket up to her shoulders. “You’re going to need it.”

   Letting out a hum of approval, Cassandra quickly dropped into the fade with a smile on her face.

   After making sure she was deep asleep, Aiden slipped out of bed on a mission.


	5. Chapter 5

   Rousing from her slumber, Cassandra’s hand drifted in search of her new-found soulmate only to find the spot beside her both cold and empty. Almost as if he left the bed not long after she drifted off. She did her best not to panic. “Aiden?”

   “Right here, Lass.”

   Rolling, Cassandra discovered the dwelling in a state of disarray. Her brow furrowed in confusion. They hadn’t been that destructive in their lovemaking. Her gaze stopped on Aiden. The Herald was hunched over with his elbows on his knees, sitting next to the table that held close to a dozen potions and bustles of herbs.

   Sensing her worry, Aiden looked up. “Sorry about the mess. I wanted to make sure I got them all.”

   She secured the sheet around her body and made her way across the room. “Did you…?”

   “No.” He fished his hands in his overgrown hair to keep himself from reaching for a vial. “I want… Maker, I want…”

   “What?”

   “I want to stop taking them. To find out who I am without them. Only…” He let out a shaky breath casting his gaze downwards. “I’m terrified.”

   “I know giving up something that has been a vice for so long can be scary. It won’t be easy and that thirst for them will come and go for the rest of your life.” She feathered her fingers through his hair, forcing him to loosen the grip he had on it. “But you’re such a strong person.”

   Aiden huffed in disagreement.

   “Yes, you are,” Cassandra argued making him look up at her. “After years and years, you’re still here. You may be broken, but those pieces can be healed. And I’m not the only one that is willing to help. There are many people in Haven who wants to help you.”

   “I know. I know.” Needing the contact, he ran his fingers over the name etched into the inside of her forearm.

   Cassandra saw the apprehension mixed with the fear. “What else is there?’

   “What if the man I am afterward isn’t one you want to be with?” An irrational fear, but it was still there, nagging him. He couldn’t help it. Just because they bore each other’s name didn’t mean that things couldn’t change. And after having both her understanding and acceptance of his past and now the knowledge of what it’s like to be loved by her, Aiden didn’t want to lose any of that.

   “That’s not going to happen.”

   “But there is still so much I haven’t told you about that the things I’ve done. That I had to do in order to survive.”

   “That’s just it, Aiden. You did what you had to do to survive.” She stroked the pad of her thumb over the mark on his chest. “Whatever you tell me will not sway my feelings for you.”

   Feelings. Aiden found himself breathless. This was all like a dream come true. “Cassandra.” No other words came to him.

   Finding a basket discarded on the floor, Cassandra used it to fill it up with the contents on the table. “Do you want to do this, Aiden?”

   Unable to trust his voice, he nodded.

   Before he had time to change his mind, Cassandra whisked over towards the back door and set the basket aside. Later, she would properly dispose of them. For now, this would do. “We should get some food,” She suggested. “Be prepared for teasing as I’m sure they’re all well aware of what we’ve been doing.”

    The corner of his scarred mouth twitched. “You were rather loud.”

   “You weren’t necessarily quiet yourself, mister.”

   Reaching out, Aiden caught her by the waist before she could attempt to dress. “I’m hungry.” He pressed her against the table. “But not for food.”

   Cassandra felt the heat pooling between her legs under his penetrating gaze. “Is this where the ravishing starts, Trevelyan?”

   He carefully unwrapped the sheet and let it carelessly drop to the floor. He didn’t think he’d ever tire of seeing her like this. Slowly, Aiden passed his hand over her heavily marked throat before he drifted downwards. “When was the last time a man touched you, Lass?”

   “Years.” There was no way she was going to admit the true numbers. She moaned when his fingers entered her with ease as she was already soaking wet.

   Aiden stood, his thumb circling around her swollen bundle of nerve, his other hand wrapping carefully around her neck. He watched closely, entranced by the pleasure playing across her face. “Did you let him fuck you as I did?” He quickened his pace and soon her hips were bucking, pressing herself harder against his hand. “Hard and fast?”

   Cassandra’s fingers dug into his biceps. “No.” With Galyan, it had been passionate, but always gentle.

   Tilting her head forward, he nipped hard at her lips drawing out a hiss of a mixture of pleasure and pain. “I’ve discovered one of those secrets you’ve kept locked away, haven’t I? You like that I’m rough? Demanding?”

   “I-I…” Cassandra couldn’t think beyond the hand torturing her. Her release was already building at a pace she couldn’t comprehend.

   “Don’t you, Seeker?” Feeling her walls start to tremble, Aiden slowed. “Answer me.”

    “Aiden, please,” Cassandra begged shamelessly.

   “Answer me and I’ll let you come.” He kept her teetering on the edge. “You like that I can strip away your control and dominate you, the Mighty Seeker of Truth.”

   “Yes, Maker, Yes.” A broken cry falling from her lips, she bucked and arched against him. Crushing her breast to his chest to sink her teeth into his throat as she was swept away.

   Hand in her hair, Aiden held her close letting her mark him and use him to ride out her wave of pleasure. “Maker, Cassandra.” His own body was hard and aching, demanding to be touched. Feeling her start to slump, Aiden helped her lay across the table. “That’s one.”

  A breathless laugh escaped her. Cassandra’s hands fumbled until they found purchase on the edge of the wood surface completely unprepared for how quickly Aiden pounced on her. Still in the miss of her pleasure haze. Dropping to his knees, Aiden tossed her legs over his shoulders and fused her mouth over her center. “Oh, fuck.”

   It was the first of many profanities from the Seeker. Aiden chuckled against her, his hands sliding up until he filled them with her breast. Knowing they had to be sore from his earlier assault, Aiden did his best to control himself as he did whatever he could to have her bucking against his face and crying out. With Cassandra, he found there was quite a difference than what was engrained into him. That there was so much pleasure to be found where there was once pain.

   This time when he took her over, Cassandra wasn’t sure if the sound she made was entirely human. Or how loud it was. She couldn’t bring herself to care. Not with the sheer amount of pleasure coursing through her.

   Taking her up and back down, Aiden nipped at her quivering thigh. He wanted to drive her into the next orgasm right away but knew she needed a moment or two to recover. “I think that could be heard at the main gates.”

   She laughed, uncurling her white-knuckled grip on the table so she could run her fingers through his damp hair. “Do you have a goal?”

   “For everyone in the Chantry to hear you. Especially Rodrick.” He stood looming over her with a wicked grin. “I want him to know that the heretic led you off the righteous path with his sinful ways.”

   Her gaze fell to her name etched above his right breast. “Maybe He’ll think I seduced the Heretic to bring him to the path of the righteous.”

   Laughing, a sound that no longer felt strained or rushed, Aiden brought up her arm to kiss her soul mark. “I want to see the look on his face when he sees this.”

    “You love to cause trouble don’t you.”

   “Of course, I do.” Hauling her off the table, Aiden carried the Seeker to the bed as it seemed her legs were too weak to bare her own weight. He swiftly shed himself of his leathers. Smiling upon finding her hungry gaze raking over him from head to toe. The way she looked at him left him breathless. For a few solitary moments, he forgot about the scars that branded his body. “Ready, Seeker?”

   “Actions are louder than words, Trevelyan.”

    He didn’t think the Maker for much, but Aiden would thank him till his dying breath for the gift that was Cassandra Pentaghast. Aiden flipped her onto her stomach and fell on to the bed. Hands planted on either side of her, he shifted between her legs turning her surprised laugh into a long moan. He rutted against her, dragging his cock across her slick folds.

   “One day.” He nipped at her shoulder. “Speaking your mind is going to get you in trouble.”

   She pressed herself against him, desperate to be filled. Aiden wasn’t the only one with an awaken sexual appetite. “If this is the punishment, I’m in no hurry to change my ways.”

   Aiden wanted to tease her, to see what noises and pleas he could draw from her but thought better of it. He was just as desperate to be inside her. “Lift your hips for me, Lass.” His hands drifted down to support her as she complied. She was so ready for him he seated himself in her sheath in one powerful stroke. Their mutual groan of contentment filled the room. Aiden didn’t wait for her encouragement to move this time.

   He took her with reverence, his thrust sharp and quick. IT wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Needed more. Pushing her weight onto her arms, Cassandra lifted herself up forcing Aiden to readjust himself, his hands now gripping her waist full. She heard him suck in a deep breath. Felt him quiver inside her. Around her. He seemed to be touching every inch of her. Filling her sense. She’d known nothing like it and didn’t want whatever this was to go away.

    Snapping his hips forward, Aiden held her steady, sinking further into her wonderful heat. The noises she made sent fire through his veins and he began to thrust wildly into her. Filling her over and over, never letting up. He fought his release, determined to see through on his promise to ravish her.

   “Sweet fucking Maker.” The words fell from his lips on a strangled noise that was almost a whimper. He had spoken the Maker honest truth when he told her that he had no clue that it could be like this. Hungry and passionate. She made him feel wanted. Desirable. He wished for a bit of gentleness and finesse, but those were two things he didn’t think he possessed.

   Feeling his fingers tangle in her hair, Cassandra arched her back losing track of the noises she was making now. She fisted her hands in the sheets trying desperately to anchor herself in the see of raw emotions. It was almost too much. He seemed to know everything she wanted without having to tell him. She loved his roughness. Loved his frantic touches. The marking of her skin. His dominance. “Aiden.” She was close as he found the perfect spot inside her that drove Cassandra wild.

   Sensing it, Aiden slipped free, smiling at the string of curses that followed. “Eager aren’t we, Lady Cassandra?”

   Cassandra growled, a sharp word or two at the ready. They died in her throat and turned into something of a purr as he yanked on her hair. He used his knees to roughly push her thighs apart. Using his grip on her hair, he turned her face towards his to take her mouth with his. Hot, hungry, and ruthlessly demanding. Cassandra felt him shift, her legs planted on either side of his so she was pressed tightly against his chest. Her mewl of pleasure was greedily swallowed by him. This new position brought Aiden’s harden cock against her slit, sliding torturously slow.

   To her greatest frustration, Aiden seemed content simply moving against her instead of filling her. She tried to free her mouth, only he held her firmly in place. He gave her no choice by to rock against him in so the head of his arousal brushed along her swollen pearl with each movement.

   Aiden slid his free hand from her hip, clamping down on her breast. He released her lips to allow her high-pitched whine to fill the air. He gave her the control, letting her rut against him at the pace she needed. Though he was careful to never allow her to take what she wanted by letting her sink back onto his cock. “Don’t stop, Seeker. I can feel you.” He sank his teeth into her already bruised throat as she reached up to rack her nails across the back of his neck. “Come for me.”

   “Aiden.”

   “Good, Lass.” Aiden found himself breathless watching her build herself up again. “Use me to make yourself come.”

   She could do nothing but comply. Knowing that she was pleasing the Herald as much as herself only heightened her arousal. Both hands now buried in his hair, twisting hard enough to draw deep growls from her lover, Cassandra did just as he asked. His words he used showed the true trust he had in her. He was allowing her to use him in any way possible for her own need, even after years upon tears of being used by others. The knowledge of that had her heart shuddering as she fell to pieces in his arms.

   His arousal was too much to ignore. Aiden twisted her onto her back, cursing as his grip fumbled on her slick skin. He had to be inside her. He needed it. By the Maker, he was burning with it. Gripping her by the hips in his bruising hands, Aiden lifted her up off the bed and yanked her down the full length of his cock. Maker have mercy. She was clutching him tight still in the midst of her release. “Wrap your legs around me,” He commanded and strong thighs slid around his narrow waist, angling her towards him.

   Aiden began to move, ruthless and demanding, watching her throw her head back in sheer ecstasy. He couldn’t believe this was real. That she was real. His eye tracked down her throat that barred his mark then to his name etched into her skin. His. This wonderful, frustrating, maddening woman harbored a power in both her presences and her body. Sweat glistened over the sharp curves of her muscles. A warrior’s body.

   Strong and controlled on and off the battlefield. He seen her take on men twice her size. Command had been inbred into every fiber of her very being. First with the Seekers than with her services to the Divine. Yet, here they were. She let him shred her of both her strength and control. Wanted him too. Longed for it. Aiden took it from her, powered by the revelation that Cassandra trusted him to strip her down and not hurt her. She trusted him to see her like this and still respect her when this moment ended.

    Cassandra’s hands struggled to find purchase in the sheets under Aiden’s powerful thrusts. She was drowning in her own pleasure. Body moving wildly, entuned with his, Cassandra finally fisted a hand around one of the rungs of the rod iron headboard. It shouldn’t be possible for her to do anything but let him ride her until he found his end. Yet, somehow something was building inside her again. A pleasurable burn coiling and mounting by each stroke. Each breathless sound he made. Every nail bite into her skin. Her body should be satisfied. She should be, but by all that was holy, she wanted more.

   “You’re going to come again.” Aiden adjusted the angle, pushing up on his knees to give himself better leverage and power to put behind each trust. “Touch yourself, Seeker. I want to feel you shatter around my cock.”

    She whimpered in protest. There was no way.

   “I said touch yourself,” Aiden commanded gripped in a sexual frenzy and lost in the sheer high of watching the pleasure he was inflicting on her. Snarling, he shook his sweat-soaked hair from his eyes not wanting anything to block the view before him. His body was taut, his muscles were straining in protest as he fought the needs of his own body. He wasn’t done ravishing her. A breathless laugh tore from his throat. Would he ever be? Ever be filled? Ever stop wanting her? Needing her? “Do as I say, Cassandra.”

   Entranced, Cassandra watched, noises of pleasure escaping her, his feral glowing gaze tracking her fingers rubbing against her swollen nub. The simple touch was over stimulating, but she couldn’t stop herself. She needed her release just as much as he wanted it. Cassandra kept her fingers moving, fast and brutal like his thrusting. It only took a few moments before she was overwhelmed by an onslaught of a multitude of emotions. There was nothing she could do but give into them while she suspected her whimper was more of a scream.

   Aiden slowed his pace, rocking against her, lost in the sensation of her walls trembling and squeezing his cock. Once again, he was lost in the sight of watching her fall apart. “Sweet Maker, Cassandra.” Released her hips, he leaned down, cupping her cheek in his hand and rested his damp brow to hers. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

   Panting, Cassandra tilted her back to brush her lips over his. He responded in kind, the gentleness in his touch surprising as the man was still wound tight, hard and pulsating inside her. “Aiden.” She combed her fingers through his damp locks, pushing it off his scarred face. “My love.”

   He let out a small whimper.

   She peppered kissed over every inch of skin she could reach. “Don’t hold back any longer. Come for me.”

   “Aye, Lass.” Taking her hand, he pinned above her head and linked fingers. “I will. We will,” Aiden breathlessly corrected. “Together.”

   He was already moving again, slowly this time, but Cassandra could feel him start to quicken. Her hand flexed under his, the other fisting in his long mane of hair. “I can’t. I can’t.”

   “Yes, you can.” His commanding voice was thick with arousal and hot against her ear. “You will come for me, Cassandra. One last time.”

   Maker, his tone sent shivers down her spine. Their sweat-slicked skin slapped against each other as Aiden drilled himself into her at an almost savage pace. “I can’t,” Cassandra whisper was drowned out by his snarls and harsh broken words against her bruised throat. They were full of need. Of Possession. She found her exhausted body starting to awaken once again.

   “Never in my life did I ever allow myself to hip.” He pressed her down further against the bed. “Especially for something like this. To belong to someone.”

   Cassandra tilted her hips upwards so his pelvis rubbed her clit with each thrust. “You belong to me.” He growled in approval and Cassandra held him tighter. “I belong to you.”

    Even though Aiden knew what to expect, the explosion of his release, coupled with the feeling of her crashing around him, left him shouting her name. She held onto him like a vice, her own cries mixing with his, while Aiden emptied himself inside her. When he was completely spent, Aiden collapsed in a heap beside her.

   “Cassandra did I…” Using what little strength he had, Aiden shifted to look at her

   The panic in his voice stirred Cassandra from her sex-induced haze. “Hmm?” She frowned at his fearful expression. “What’s wrong?”

   “Did I hurt you?”

   “Maker, no.” She curled into his side, nuzzling his bearded cheek. She heard him let out a soft breath of relief. “I doubt I can ride a horse for a few days and I’m sore all over, but I suspect that’s how a woman is supposed to feel after being thoroughly ravished.”

   The corner of his scarred mouth twitched. “You seemed to enjoy being ravished, Seeker.”

   “Only by you, my love.” She kissed the tip of his nose. “I do plan to return the favor.”

   He chuckled softly. “I do hope you intend to let me recover. Even with my half elvhen side, my stamina isn’t that powerful.”

   “No, even as tempting as it might be. You’ve been through a lot these past few days.”


End file.
